THE  NEW 


PHILIPPINES 


ROY  H.  BROWN 


The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
of  the 

Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  A. 
156  Fifth  Avenue,  N.  Y. 


THE  NEW  PHILIPPINES 

ROY  H.  BROWN 


From  a political  standpoint  the  year  has  stood 
most  emphatically  for  UyREST.  With  the  change 
of  administrations,  rumors  of  every  description  circu- 
lated in  the  native  press  and  were  launched  from 
the  public  platform.  The  people  knew  not  what  to 
expect.  A spirit  of  dissatisfaction  soon  began  to 
crystallize  and  the  people  felt  as  though  they  were 
being  defrauded  of  their  just  rights  of  independence. 
Promises  that  were  vague  and  ambiguous  were  largely 
responsible.  Being  capable  of  the  interpretation  that 
the  Filipino  desired  to  place  upon  them,  little  by 
little  the  sentiment  grew  that  America  and  Americans 
were  unfair  to  the  Filipino.  This  atttude  grew  until 
almost  anything  American  was  heartily  disliked. 
This  experience  of  Dr.  Carter  and  myself  in  a moun- 
tain village  perhaps  reveals  the  thought  I would  ex- 
press. The  chairman  of  the  meeting  arose  and  in- 
troduced us  in  a very  patriotic  speech,  saying  in 
substance  that  here  were  two  Americans,  at  least,  who 
had  not  come  for  their  own  good,  but  for  the  benefit 
of  the  Filipino,  and  then  he  closed  by  saying,  “Al- 
though they  are  Americans,  they  are  Christians.”  So 
strong  grew  the  sentiment  against  anything  foreign 
that  one  pastor  and  another  leader  felt  it  necessary 
to  separate  from  our  church,  as  they  were  open  to 
the  charge,  they  felt,  of  being  connected  with  and 
dominated  by  foreigners. 

A New  Synod 

This  schism  made  the  missionaries  stop  and  con- 
sider. Mr.  Lamb,  of  Manila,  wrote  a very  able 
pamphlet  showing  the  absolute  separation  of  our 
church  from  all  political  movements.  However,  we 
went  much  farther  in  our  Mission  Meeting  and  Pres- 
bytery, and  decided  to  settle  once  for  all  such  attacks 
by  overturing  the  General  Assembly  to  allow  us  to 
form  an  Independent  Filipino  Church.  This  request 
was  granted  to  us,  at  Chicago,  May,  1914.  Thus  out  of 
the  unrest  a new  church  starts  to  meet  a great 
people’s  needs. 

This  attitude  of  our  church  has  impressed  the  Fili- 
pino with  our  sincerity  and  has  aroused  him  to  face 
his  responsibility  as  nothing  could  have  done.  In 
Albay,  after  our  fall  class.  Rev.  Dia  called  the  Fili- 
pino evangelists  and  workers  together  and  told  them 
that  not  only  from  a Christian  viewpoint,  but  from  a 
patriotic  standpoint,  it  was  their  duty  to  work  to 
develoj)  self  support  and  not  call  any  more  than  abso- 
lutely necessarj'  on  funds  from  America. 

In  Camalig,  of  the  same  Province,  a consecrated 
spirit  of  independence  was  manifest.  They  had  been 
raising  funds  for  a new  buildng,  but  they  wanted 
from  the  station  money  for  the  land,  and  under  cer- 
tain conditions  we  had  consented  to  aid  them. 
Weeks  went  by  and  finally  I asked,  “When  will  you 
need  the  money  fov  the  land?”  and  they  said,  “We 


have  bought  it  ourselves,  believing  we  ought  not  to 
burden  the  station  with  our  needs.” 

Facing  the  possibility  of  withdrawal  of  America 
from  the  Philippines,  the  missionary  has  considered 
more  carefully  and  prayerfully  his  attitude  to  the 
Filipino  and  has  found  that  perhaps  he  did  not  give 
him  all  the  credit  due,  and  to  a man  the  Mission 
faces  the  future,  not  perhaps  without  doubts,  but 
with  large  hope  that  God  will  bring  the  best  to  pass 
for  His  glory  and  He  sees  as  never  before  the  sterl- 
ing qualities  in  the  Filipino  and  believes  that  the  years 
of  Christian  nurture  and  growth,  as  well  as  the  splen- 
did instruction  they  have  received,  will  be  the  power 
that  will  balance  them  and  give  them  poise. 

New  Buildings 

Our  builders,  Mr.  Glunz  and  Mr.  Gunn,  could  tes- 
tify that  they  have  been  on  the  jump  to  finish  the 
building  projects  that  were  intrusted  to  their  care. 
Buildings  have  been  erected  for  the  future,  not  just 
to  meet  a present  need.  White  ants  and  bagnios  are 
too  strong  for  bamboo  or  even  wood  to  resist  suc- 
cessfully. Friends  in  the  States  have  made  possible 
the  erection  of  a hospital  and  residence  in  the  Island 
of  Bohol,  where  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Graham  have  done 
such  a splendid  work.  Though  they  need  a dormi- 
tory, they  will  be  able  to  do  large  things  for  the 
kingdom  with  the  present  equipment. 

For  thorough  equipment  Cebu  is  the  banner  sta- 
tion. During  the  past  year,  two  re-enforced  concrete 
buildings  have  been  erected  as  dormitories,  one  for 
young  men  and  the  other  for  girls.  The  boys  dormi- 
tory rapidly  filled  and  under  the  leadership  of  Mr. 
Dunlap,  who  is  peculiarlj'  gifted  in  his  dealing  with 
young  men,  many  Iiave  been  interested  in  Bible 
study  and,  in  a letter  received  not  long  since,  eight 
of  the  boys  had  given  themselves  to  the  blaster.  Mr. 
Dunlap,  through  his  baseball  knowledge,  has  slid 
right  into  the  hearts  of  all  classes  in  Cebu.  The 
dormitory  for  young  women  in  the  coming  year  will 
be  filled  to  overflowing,  an^l  thus  many  more  gate- 
ways of  approach  will  be  opened  to  the  teacher  of 
the  truth.  This  dormitory  work  has  the  approval  of 
all  bodies  at  work  in  the  Philippines,  as  there  are 
more  than  twenty  established  throughout  the  Islands. 
They  are  self-supporting  and  are  of  tlie  greatest 
possible  evangelical  power.  They  are  the  modern 
■Missionary  twelve  pounders  to  destroy  prejudice  and 
open  hearts  and  homes  to  Jesus  Christ. 

Cebu  also  has  a beautiful  new  church. 

Manila’s  Girls’  School  and  Boys’  Dormitorj"  and 
Seminary  grew  so  fast  a new  l)uilding  was  needed 
for  the  girls.  This  building  is  in  process  of  erection. 
With  its  completion  Mr.  Wright  can  enlarge  liis 
splendid  activities  in  meeting  the  student  need  in 
the  University  life  of  Manila,  and  Miss  Bartholomew 
can  develop  her  s])lendid  training  school  for  women, 
that  is  doing  so  much  to  meet  the  women’s  need  in 
the  Philippines. 

A New  Record  for  Silliman 

Silliman  Institute  is  the  finest  institution  in  the 
Philippines.  A place  where  life  is  changed  and  con- 
secrated to  God.  Negros  is  honey-combed  with  the 
influence  of  this  school.  Cebu  trains  her  workers  here 


and  Mindinao  owes  the  revival  that  is  taking  place 
on  her  northern  shores  to  these  boys  of  our  school. 
I-et  me  quote  from  a letter  of  a worker  at  Duma- 
guete:  “School  opened  June  3rd,  1914,  enrollment, 
3G4,  over  100  more  than  last  year.  Enrollment  two 
days  later,  545;  enrollment  this  morning,  June  8th, 
over  600.  Since  then  the  steamer  Mayon  has  arrived 
with  about  30  more.  Every  place  in  the  dormitories 
is  gone  and  we  are  trying  to  get  Mr.  Osborn  to  give 
up  his  house;  if  he  won’t  we  will  perhaps  use  the 
top  floor  of  the  Shop  Annex  and  possibly  the  main 
shop  also,  for  there  are  about  400  boarders  here  and 
we  don’t  want  to  send  them  back.  We  have  built 
two  bamboo  and  nipa  classrooms  back  of  our  house. 

O!  for  money  for  a new  Dormitory!  Can't  you 
get  us  one?  Is  there  any  appeal  much  stronger 
than  that?  There  is  nothing  to  hinder  this  from 
being  on  the  par  with  the  greatest  Mission  Col- 
leges in  the  world,  nothing  save  your  money  and 
prayers.  In  three  years,  with  equipment,  we  could 
have  1,500  to  2,000  men  and  hundreds  of  women,  if 
we  could  build.  The  need  is  mighty,  now,  for  if  the 
Islands  are  turned  over  to  the  Filipinos,  there  will 
be  a period  of  readjustment,  when  the  public  schools 
and  universities  will  hardly  keep  up  to  standard,  and 
this  will  be  our  opportunity  in  Dumaguete. 

Boys  are  not  only  given  a Christian  education  at 
this  school,  but  boj's  are  converted.  It  was  my 
privilege  to  be  present  when  fifty  boys  consecrated 
their  all  to  the  service  of  the  King.  This  is  the  only 
school  of  its  size  and  kind  where  the  Bible  is  taught. 
Last  year  200  were  turned  away  who  wanted  the 
Christian  inspiration.  Shall  we  withhold  the  Word 
of  Life  from  more  than  that  in  the  succeeding  years? 

The  New  Opportunity 

In  every  nation  there  are  times  of  especial  oppor- 
tunity for  the  heralds  of  the  cross,  other  than  the 
great  heart  hunger  and  blind  gropings  after  the  truth. 
Political  awakenings  and  upheavals  like  China’s  throw 
the  doors  wide  open  to  the  ambassadors  of  the  Prince 
of  Peace.  When  Dewey  took  Manila  bay  he  threw 
wide  the  portals  of  new  life  to  the  Filipino  people. 
He  unchained  the  Bible  that  for  centuries  had  been 
bound  and  hidden  from  those  who  were  eager  to  re- 
ceive its  teachings  and  follow  its  instruction.  But 
with  the  passing  of  the  years  the  Government’s  mag- 
nificent work  has  brought  us  to  a time  of  oppor- 
tunity the  like  of  which  was  only  experienced  when 
Christ  came  in  the  “Fulness  of  time.”  Through  hu- 
man instrumentality  splendid  Roman  roads  reached 
to  the  distant  parts  of  the  empire,  Roman  justice  and 
the  Greek  tongue  protected  the  messenger  of  the 
Cross  and  gave  him  a universal  language  to  tell  of  a 
Saviour’s  love.  All  these  our  government  has  given 
to  us.  By  land  and  sea  means  of  communication  ha  e 
been  established  so  that  days  and  even  months  are 
saved  in  hastening  the  time  when  everyone  shall  hear 
of  His  name  from  the  least  unto  the  greatest.  Mail 
routes  on  the  sea  have  been  established.  There  is 
some  certainty  of  the  arrival  and  the  departure  of 
steamers.  Places  that  were  inaccessible  have  been 
opened  to  commerce  and  the  new  pulsing  life  and 
spirit  of  the  new  times  in  the  Philippines  has  entered. 
On  these  boats  embark  the  modern  Pauls  to  preach 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/newphilippinesOObrow 


to  a people  that  have  long  ignorantly  worshipped  the 
Lord  through  saints,  images  and  superstitions,  that 
“God  is  a spirit  and  they  that  worship  Him  must 
worship  Him  in  spirit  and  truth.”  The  native  boats, 
with  their  bamboo  outriggers  and  reed  woven  sails, 
are  thankfully  laid  aside  for  the  inter-island  steamer, 
which  seems  a veritable  ark  of  the  Lord. 

In  the  early  days  in  the  Province  of  Albay,  Polan- 
gui  was  14  hours  aw'ay  in  time,  and  5,000  peculiar 
jolts  and  aches  distant  from  the  town  of  Albay. 
Twenty-five  pesos  were  needed  to  bridge  that  dis- 
tance, and  even  if  you  had  the  money  and  the  time, 
it  was  a problem  to  get  a starved  native  team  to  take 
you  there.  Now,  because  of  our  first-class  roads, 
Polangui  is  just  one  hour  and  a half  from  Albay, 
there  are  no  aches  in  the  auto  that  carries  you,  and 
all  that  stands  between  you  and  Polangui  is  50  cen- 
tavos. Every  town  in  our  province  save  two  small 
ones  may  be  reached  by  automobile.  Nearly  four 
thousand  miles  of  good  road  for  motorcycle  or  auto- 
mobile open  the  country  to  the  Protestant  missionary. 
Road  foremen  hai^e  motorcycles,  engineers  of  districts 
have  automobiles,  supervising  teachers  own  them  and 
are  supplied  by  the  government  in  the  interests  of 
efficiency  and  economy.  To  some  extent  our  mission 
has  profited  by  the  example  of  government  and  busi- 
ness houses.  We  have  some  motorcycles  and  they 
have  increased  the  efficiencj'  of  the  workers. 

There  are  530,000  boys  and  girls  who  are  ready  to 
listen  to  you,  not  in  the  dialects,  but  in  English. 
8,500  Filipino  school  teachers  are  prepared  to  read 
and  grasp  the  great  ideas  of  the  English  writers. 
Four  of  our  Christian  workers  in  the  province  of 
Albay  write  to  me  in  English.  When  you  announce 
in  a town  you  are  going  to  speak  in  English  and  not 
butcher  the  dialect,  it  is  easy  to  get  a crowd  of 
school  children  around.  What  an  opportunity  for  us 
to  teach  and  influence  in  our  own  tongue,  that  has 
become  theirs ! 

The  Filipino  is  eager  for  enlightenment.  There  is 
nothing  to  hinder  the  message  being  given  to  him 
save  lack  of  messengers  and  quick  ways  of  reaching 
him.  Now  is  the  impressionable  time,  ere  the  days 
of  indifference  come. 

There  are  some  few  thousands  of  American  troops 
in  the  islands  to  preserve  order,  aided  b.v  the  Con- 
stabulary and  the  Philippine  Scouts.  But  there  is 
a better  army  than  that;  through  14  years  it  has 
been  recruited  until  it  numbers  nearly  75,000  strong! 
Like  the  troops  of  Garibaldi,  these  servants  of  Christ 
were  promised  persecution,  hard  marches,  heroic  ser- 
vice, but  in  the  end  liberty  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  they 
are  the  hope  to-day  of  the  Philippines.  When  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  are  hauled  down  and  the  troopers 
embark,  they  will  remain  to  garrison  the  land  for 
Christ.  Thej'  have  stood  under  fire  and  not  wavered, 
they  have  charged  many  a hill  of  superstition  and 
placed  the  cross  of  Christ  on  its  summit. 

Union  is  growing  in  sentiment  in  the  Philippines. 
The  Union  Theological  Seminary  in  Manila  is  pre- 
paring the  way  for  a Filipino  church  in  God’s  good 
time. 

Eight  hospitals  and  30  dispensaries  are  bringing  the 
gospel  of  love  and  charity  to  the  people.  Twenty 
dormitories  are  undertaking  to  reach  the  young  and 


splendid  rising  generation  of  the  islands.  Industrial 
schools  are  training  the  hands  as  well  as  the  hearts 
to  meet  the  future. 

The  New  Filipino 

The  Filipino  has  demonstrated  his  capacity  to  ab- 
sorb good  things. 

To  those  who  doubt  the  ability  and  worth  of  the 
Filipino  people  it  should  only  be  necessary  to  call 
attention  to  their  marvelous  capacity  under  the  edu- 
cational system  established  by  our  government.  These 
boys  and  girls  are  studying  the  advanced  course  of 
the  American  schools,  and  in  a tongue  strange  to 
them  are  holding  their  own. 

My  blood  thrills  as  I train  some  of  these  young 
people  in  the  great  masterpieces  of  English  litera- 
ture. Their  learning  may  be  open  to  the  criticism 
of  the  critic  who  says  it  is  not  made  of  practical  use, 
but  what  should  we  expect  in  14  years?  The  de- 
tractors of  the  Filipino  are  not  logical.  They  say 
he  has  no  capacity  and  then  they  demand  from  him 
the  highest  attainments  of  an  enlightened  and  cul- 
tured people.  Education  in  our  own  country  has  not 
always  been  known  to  solve  all  problems. 

A splendid,  hospitable,  capable,  ready  people  of 
the  islands  of  the  sea,  waiting  for  that  perfect  lib- 
erty in  Christ  Jesus  that  shall  lead  them  into  all  the 
deeper  and  richer  meaning  of  life. 

It  is  the  fulness  of  time!  Will  you  help  us  to  make 
the  Christ  life  real  for  them?  They  have  journeyed 
long,  thinking  Christ  was  with  them;  now  is  the 
time  to  make  Him  real  and  discover  Him  to  them. 


October,  1914. 


Form  No.  2203. 


